Why ARE the US and Israel Obsessed With Eliminating Iran’s Ballistic Missiles?

What Iran’s Naval Exercise With China And Russia In The Strait Of Hormuz Actually Means

FEB 18, 2026

As the U.S. flows assets toward the Middle East, including the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) now reportedly off the Moroccan coast, Iran, China and Russia will hold their recurring joint naval training exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media. Moscow and Tehran see the Maritime Security Belt 2026 exercise as particularly relevant in light of current events, and there are reasons for the White House and Pentagon to take note. Having Russian or Chinese warships in these waters amid a U.S. attack on Iran could have military and political implications planners must address. At the same time, the timing of the still ongoing U.S. buildup and the exercise point to it having more of a messaging effect than an operational one.

The exercise, first held in 2019, is being hosted in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, located on the Strait of Hormuz. Russian, Chinese, and Iranian naval units “are expected to participate with various ships and operational capabilities to test coordination, tactical readiness, and rapid-response procedures in the Strait of Hormuz,” the official Iranian Mehr news outlet reported.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) declined to comment on the exercise.


As Iranian and Russian officials gathered Wednesday aboard the Russian corvette Stoiky, a top Iranian official issued a new threat against the growing U.S. Navy presence in the region, which includes the Abraham Lincoln CSG and at least eight other surface combatants. The Ford could arrive in the region in the next four or five days given its location posted by the MarineTraffic ship tracking website. The Navy said only that the ship is now in the Atlantic Ocean.


“The Islamic Republic of Iran has faced threats, noise, propaganda and the presence of extra-regional fleets in West Asia for 47 years, Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Adm. Shahram Irani warned. “The presence of extra-regional fleets in West Asia is unjustified.”

“If the extra-regional fleet feels it has come with power, it should know that the Iranian people will confront them with greater power,” he added. “The faith of the people and missiles are the Islamic Republic of Iran’s deterrent weapons against the enemy.”


Nikolai Patrushev, a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, framed the exercise as part of a larger struggle between the U.S. and the BRICS alliance, an informal group of 21 nations that includes Russia, China and Iran. Patrushev took aim at the ongoing U.S. and NATO efforts to seize tankers containing Russian oil as well as the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

“We will tap into the potential of BRICS, which should now be given a full-fledged strategic maritime dimension,” Patrushev posited. “The Maritime Security Belt 2026 exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, where Russia, China, and Iran [will send] their ships, proves to be relevant.”

Both Russia and Iran say the exercise will increase their ability to work together.

“The level of existing interactions and cooperation shows that we can manage and resolve many maritime and coastal issues together,” Captain First Rank Alexey Sergeev, commander of the Russian naval group, said, according to The Telegraph. “We are ready to hold joint exercises in any region, including specialised drills such as anti-maritime terrorism operations that will be executed with vessels and boats from both sides.”

Experts we spoke with say the presence of a small number of Russian and Chinese ships in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman does not pose a significant threat to U.S. interests, but could complicate efforts to attack Iran. They also note that this exercise was likely planned months ago, well before U.S. President Donald Trump started threatening Iran over its harsh treatment of anti-regime protesters.


“I don’t believe it increases in any significant way the likelihood of conflict with Russia and China, but it probably would introduce additional considerations for any planned strikes against Iran,” Tom Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank and a retired U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer told us Wednesday morning.

“For starters, you’d want to make sure that their sensors don’t give advanced warning of your strike to the Iranians, and you’d want to make sure that those Russian and Chinese platforms aren’t in the way,” he explained. “You’d also of course want to ensure that there is no way they could be inadvertently struck a la USS Stark during the Iraq-Iran Tanker Wars of the 1980s.”

The Stark, an Oliver-Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigate, was hit by two Iraqi Exocet missiles while in the Persian Gulf on May 17, 1987. The strike killed 37 sailors and wounded 21 others.

Shugart downplayed the timing of the exercise, given that its planning has been in the works for a while.

“I also don’t think that the small number of Russian and Chinese ships involved amount to much militarily relative to U.S. naval forces in the region – though their presence might matter politically, should the administration decide it wants to take military action against Iran,” he explained.

“I don’t think this fundamentally changes anything,” former CENTCOM commander Joseph Votel told us. “It is an easy way for Russia and China to show support after having abandoned Iran last summer.”

Votel, a retired Army General and current distinguished fellow at the Middle East Institute, was referring to last June’s U.S. Operation Midnight Hammer attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and Israel’s 12-Day War against Iran.

“Certainly the timing makes it seem more provocative,” Votel added. “There is likely also an internal message for regime supporters – pushing back on the U.S. and Israel.”

“I don’t think it raises the threat of conflict,” the former CENTCOM commander surmised. “I view it as a form of great power competition.”

The presence of Russian and Chinese ships near Bandar Abbas, a major center of Iranian military activity, could complicate U.S. targeting if they remain in the area. The coastal city would be a prime target to take out many types of kinetic capabilities, sensors, and other assets, especially Iran’s naval forces. Still, the Chinese and Russian ships should leave at some point and the U.S. would know their location and it doesn’t appear the U.S. is in a place to strike yet. Unless the exercise goes on for weeks, the Russian and Chinese ships will likely have moved on by the time all the pieces are in place for a U.S.-led kinetic operation to begin.

The joint naval exercise follows a more recently planned drill by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has closed off the Strait of Hormuz for a live-fire exercise. It marks the first time Iran has shut parts of the Strait since Trump threatened Iran with military action in January.

Dubbed “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz,” the drills began Monday and include firing anti-ship cruise missiles at targets and IRGC naval drone and submarine units carrying out operations originating from the three Iranian islands, according to Iranian media.


“The armed drones used in the exercise—capable of engaging both air and sea targets—are among the IRGC Navy’s newest strategic platforms and are deployed in significant numbers, though their names and technical specifications remain classified,” the official Iranian FARS News outlet claimed.

We’ll have to wait and see how the exercises unfold, especially as the U.S. buildup fully matures. But at this time it seems that the presence of these vessels is more of a political factor than an operational one, at least for the time being.

Trump says world has 10 days to see if Iran agrees deal or 'bad things happen'

6 hours ago
Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

President Donald Trump says the world will find out "over the next, probably, 10 days" whether the US will reach a deal with Iran or take military action.

At the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington DC, Trump said of negotiations with the Islamic Republic about its nuclear programme: "We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen."

In recent days, the US has surged military forces to the Middle East, while progress was also reported at talks between American and Iranian negotiators in Switzerland.

Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, have voiced opposition to any potential military action in Iran without congressional approval.

In his remarks, Trump noted that Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also Trump's son-in-law, had "some very good meetings" with Iran.

"It's proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran," he said. "Otherwise bad things happen."

One day earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that Iran would be "very wise" to make a deal with the US, adding that Trump was still hoping for a diplomatic solution over Tehran's nuclear programme.

When Trump first announced the Board of Peace, it was thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction.

But in the last month its mission has appeared to go beyond one conflict, with many wondering if the Trump-chaired board, made up of about two dozen countries, is meant to sideline the United Nations.

US missile and aircraft struck three Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year, and the White House was reportedly discussing new attack options this week.

American forces have been ramping up their presence in the region in recent weeks, including the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.

However, the BBC understands that the British government has not given permission for the US to use UK military bases to support any potential strikes on Iran.

In previous military operations in the Middle East, the US used RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, and the UK overseas territory of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean.

Satellite images have also shown that Iran has reinforced military facilities, and the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, has posted messages to social media threatening US forces.

"The US President constantly says that the US has sent a warship toward Iran. Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware," one of Khamenei's posts read.

"However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea."

Several members of US Congress have expressed opposition to any military action against Iran.

California Democrat Ro Khanna and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie have said they will try to force a vote on the matter next week, citing the 1973 War Powers Act.

The act grants Congress the ability to check the president's power to commit the US to armed conflict.

"A war with Iran would be catastrophic," Khanna posted on social media. "Iran is a complex society of 90 million people with significant air defences and military
capabilities."

He also said thousands of US troops in the region "could be at risk of retaliation".

The chances of passage in both chambers of Congress are not strong.

In January, Senate Republicans blocked a similar war powers resolution that would have required the Trump administration to obtain congressional approval before launching further military operations in Venezuela following the capture of Nicolas Maduro.

Trump has 10 days to decide if TACO is the right thing to do to
save him from regime change in Washington.

Iran would better guard itself against sneak-attack launched
by the U.S. and Israel within the next 10 days.

If You Attack Iran…’: Putin’s Chilling Message To Trump

“Netanyahu is almost certainly telling him that just as he was successful in Venezuela, his name will be revered for decades in the region for bringing down the Iranian regime,”

If Trump invades Iran on the order of Netanyahu his reputation in the
world will be more stinky than his excrement.

No Backers For USA's War On Khamenei?

Any new US strike on Iran is ‘playing with fire’, Russia’s Lavrov warns

19 February 2026

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that any new US strike on Iran is “playing with fire” and will have “serious consequences.”

Lavrov made the remark in an interview with Saudi Arabia's al-Arabiya television aired on Wednesday, a day after Iranian and American negotiators held indirect talks in the Swiss city of Geneva over Tehran's nuclear program.


"The consequences are not good. There have already been strikes on Iran on nuclear sites under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.


“From what we can judge, there were real risks of a nuclear incident… Everyone understands this is playing with fire,” the top Russian diplomat emphasized.


Iran and the US held the second round of indirect nuclear negotiations at the Omani consulate general in Geneva on Tuesday. As in the previous round in the Omani capital of Muscat, the agenda of the talks focused primarily on the nuclear issue and the lifting of illegal US sanctions.


Following the talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the two sides agreed on a set of guiding principles to clear the path for future talks.


Separately, a senior US official, who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, said Iran is anticipated to present a written proposal for resolving its dispute with the United
States following the Geneva talks.


This comes as US national security officials are conducting a review of regional military readiness, with forces expected to be fully deployed by the middle of March.


The US maintains that Iran must cease its nuclear program, whereas Tehran asserts that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and says it is entitled to peaceful nuclear energy.


Elsewhere in his interview, Lavrov said key regional players -- especially Arab nations and the Persian Gulf littoral states -- were keen to avoid further escalation of tensions.


He added that Arab countries were sending signals to the US "clearly calling for restraint and a search for an agreement that will not infringe on Iran's lawful rights and ... guarantee that Iran has a purely peaceful nuclear enrichment program".


The Russian foreign minister cautioned that a renewed confrontation could undo recent diplomatic gains, including the improved relations between Iran and neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia.


He said Moscow remained in close contact with Tehran and believed that “Iran sincerely wants to resolve this problem on the basis of observing the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty."


He emphasized that any agreement must respect Iran’s lawful rights.

Iran says that its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy is an inherent and inalienable right, and no form of pressure or political stance can undermine this right.


Tehran was among the original signatories of the NPT, signing the treaty on July 1, 1968. The Iranian Parliament ratified the NPT in February 1970, and the treaty entered into force for Iran thereafter.


Under the NPT, Iran is recognized as a non-nuclear-weapon state and agreed not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, while in return retaining the right to pursue peaceful nuclear energy under international safeguards.

Russia and China are ready to take on the world's biggest bully.

DtheB said:

Israel?

Click to expand...

Israel is only the biggest bully in the Middle East. It has the
world's biggest bully as it's guard dog. It is likely no or very
light casualties will be inflicted on Israel's military by the
end of this conflict. Israel's American mercenaries will be
happy to die for their true master.